So..... What do you think of Off Grid?

[LauraLeigh]

I'm seriously thinking about buying a chunk of land down home, it has a good sized barn in great shape, a garage, well and septic, fruit trees and mature trees, good pastures, about 15 acres and is very close to family, and Dads tree lot... The original home burned last year, so there is no house...

I'm considering building a "tiny" home on it, and being totally off grid with solar and gas for appliances, wood for heat.. the nice thing with family close is I could "borrow" basement space for a freezer for meat and storage.

It's always been a dream of mine, I'll keep my phone, lol, which I use like a computer anyways so I wouldn't be tech free but off grid for hydro, and heat, raise food and plant gardens. My bother and sister in law want to be a part of it in exchange for meat/ garden yields....

Does anyone know anyone who has successfully pulled the plug this way?

 

[xpaeanx]

I don't know anyone personally that is completely self-sustaining personally, however I know several people along the spectrum on the way there.

It can be done if you have the $ for the upfront investment in land and gear and the know how and ability to repair things... And the balls to live that lifestyle.

I'm finally getting to the point of buying my farm and I plan to fall along the self-sustaining spectrum myself, although I will never be "off the grid." I like Internet and phones and Chinese delivery and dryer fluffy towels. HaHa. My ideal is a hobby farm/homestead with part time work for income, and that's what I'm aiming for.

 

[stardogs]

My aunt and uncle lived off grid for about 30 years. In their older age (they are in their late 60s and early 70s respectively) they have moved back into town for amenities and access to health care, but they raised a family off grid successfully. It's a hard life, but they found it very rewarding.

 

[Kootenay]

Lots of people in my community live off grid. We do, sort of, depending on the technicalities of the term. We are part of a very small hydro electric community for our power, about 13 homes are supplied by the power plant, and all maintenance and repairs are done by the people on the system. It's great except when the power goes out in the middle of a raging storm and its up to us to get out there and find what's wrong and repair it!

We use wood heat and get most of our firewood off our property, propane stove as well as a wood cook stove that we use most of the time in the winter.

We grow quite a lot of food in the summer and I would like to do more in terms of storing/canning/preserving. We buy a lot of our root vegetables for the winter from a local farmer. We have chickens for eggs and trade eggs for goat milk/cheese/yogurt etc from my dad, who raises dairy goats.

Of course, we also have high speed internet

I was raised this way and love it, I've lived stints in the city and can't handle it for very long.

 

[milos_mommy]

I really, really love the idea of off-grid living, but I'm not so sure I would personally enjoy it long term. I could EASILY go without TV, a lot of more modern appliances, etc...but I don't know if I could give up things like living in close proximity to a city where I can see exhibits, shows, museums, etc., the opportunity to work in a "real-world" job, etc.

I see it as something I'd really love to try out temporarily...for 6 months to a year maybe, or even for an extended visit with someone living totally off-grid. But as much as I love gardening and aquaponics and sustainable energy and lovely spaces with no electronics and the idea of putting in hard work for everything you need in a way you can see clearly (IE. chopping wood for heat, gardening for food, etc.), I think I would miss some parts of on-grid life too much.

Then again, in my current on-grid life, I often feel nostalgic for a much simpler living, and overwhelmed by all the "extras".

 

[Psyfalcon]

If there was a house, there are already lines? I'd just get any repairs to those done.

It makes sense if you can't afford to bring in power, but a lot of "off the grid" means a lot of trucked in propane. Its hardly efficient and you're still limited to when they can get the truck in (storms, etc).

How are you going to keep the pipes warm if you leave for a week and no one keeps a fire going? I'd imagine you'd at least need a well sorted system for that. Lots of cabins are dry for that reason.

 

[LauraLeigh]

Not too worried about keeping it warm, my parents and brother are about 1/2 km away, they'd keep the fire going and I'd probably install propane hear for back up. The only thing from the research I've done that's more expensive to run is a propane fridge, the stove, and dryer are more efficient when using gas. I could tap into power, and may yet, but the whole idea is to not have dependence on it, or the monthly bills associated, in that area hydro is very expensive, a solar set up to run the basics wouldn't be cheap though, so I have to weigh that along with the fact that gas appliances are also more expensive

 

[Tahla9999]

I... enjoy watching people live off the grid on tv, if that counts.

As for me, nooooooo. I'm planning to enter into freelance illustration as well as try to be an artist for the animation industry so just not viable to me. Also, I'm a lover of convenience and like to have the things I may need close to me. I also can't imagine not having the internet. With the endless reading material that it provides, I just can't imagine not having it( it is also needed in my profession). I do sometimes sit back and imagine how living like that would be like. But what I imagine never goes well for me since I'm not at all use to the hard living nor do I have the knowledge to confront the issues that would come up.